Business aviation will have a big part to play in his year’s Dubai Airshow (November 12-16). In fact, organizers have already confirmed that one quarter of the 160 aircraft anticipated on the static display at Al Maktoum International Airport will be business jets. Major aircraft manufacturers, such as Gulfstream, Embraer, Bombardier and Dassault, are already booked to exhibit, as are as local UAE-based companies like Sonic Jet and Falcon Aviation.

The most recent Middle East market forecast from Bombardier Business Aircraft predicts around 350 aircraft deliveries, worth a combined $12 billion, over the next 10 years, with medium- to large-size models accounting for 95 percent of these units. Boeing Business Jets has reported that the region now accounts for around one third of all its sales.

According to Ali Alnaqbi, the founding and executive chairman of the Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), there is currently a 12 percent year-on-year regional growth in the business aviation sector in the Middle East. He believes that this demand will continue to rise over the next few years.

“Currently, the market is still favoring widebody aircraft,” he said. “Demand for mid-size and small-size is there too. With increased demand from our members to be present at the Dubai Airshow in order to meet the big players, we can push the agenda under the MEBAA umbrella.”

Michele van Akelijen, managing director of show organizer F&E Aerospace, predicts that business aviation in the region will be worth $1.3 billion by 2020. “We are seeing a great deal of interest from exhibitors who know that the Dubai Airshow is the ideal place to do business in the region,” she said. “In the Middle East, if you are not there to talk face to face, the deals won’t happen.”

The 2017 Dubai Airshow will include the following four new features: a UAV conference and pavilion; a cargo zone with a conference focused on safety and security; a space pavilion in partnership with the UAE Space Agency and its involvement in the Mission to Mars project; and an Airport Solutions pavilion and conference.

According to F&E Aerospace, the profile of trade visitors coming to the Dubai Airshow now extends well beyond the Arabian Gulf states. European and North American visitors have always been a big part of the crowd, but increasingly, aviation professionals are flocking from Africa and Asia too.

The biennial Dubai Airshow has benefitted greatly from the move to the new Al Maktoum International Airport where far greater space is available than at the main Dubai International Airport. The site, which also now hosts the MEBAA business aviation event on alternate years, is set for further expansion to accommodate rising levels of scheduled airline traffic.

“The air show this year will push up to the limits of the new airport,” concluded van Akelijen. But, as frequent visitors know, Dubai has never been afraid of expanding.